Notables: This is the first of four games between the teams this season...The Knicks won last season's series 2-1...Antawn Jamison averaged 24.3 points and 8.7 rebounds against the Knicks last season while Caron Butler averaged 23 points and 6.5 rebounds...This will be the first of 17 back-to-back sets for the Wizards, who play at Orlando tomorrow night...The Wiz were 9-11 in the first game of a back-to-back set last season...The Knicks (2-2) are coming off a 101-98 home win over Charlotte...Knicks Coach Mike D'Antoni said yesterday that rookie first round pick Danilo Gallinari will not be in the rotation.

-It may be a good idea to take the over tonight because neither team is playing much defense. The Wizards are giving up 108 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent while the Knicks are giving up 105.8 ppg and allowing opp to shoot 49.4 percent.

-Wiz G Nick Young (15.7 ppg) ranks fourth in the league in bench scoring while Knicks G Nate Robinson (15.8 ppg) is tied for second.

-Huge disparity in three-point shooting for these teams. The Wiz have made 11 of 52 attempts (21.2 percent) while the Knicks have made 40 of 115 attempts (34.8 percent). Only Orlando (128) has attempted more 3s than the Knicks.

-The key for the Wizards will be matching up with D'Antoni's small lineup. All five players can shoot from outside and they will shoot early in the shot clock. Rebounding will be huge. "It's different and it's difficult to defend them as small as they are and as versatile as they are," Jordan said. "It's going to be a lot of quick shots and they take them anyway they can. Pull ups. Threes. Pass ahead threes. Real quick pick-and-rolls. First side postups and what we have to be ready for is long rebounds and awkward rebounds. Let's not get caught up in their game. We want to slow it down a little bit more they do."

As I said before, good 3 pts shootings is the characteristic of D'Antoni's team, and it shows to night.

Wiz rebounded very well in the game, not continentally Songaila didn't play.

With the exception of his last turn over, I think AB played his best game this season, 7/5 in 13 minutes. But still didn't get much play time. Of course this may have something to do with MecGee's performance. The guy is exciting, but for a 7 footer with long arm span, he leaves his feet too often on defense, and is often caught out of position as well. Something he will have to learn.

That's it, that's all the positives I can say about this team, I think Ivan should run on poll on when the Wiz will win their first game this season.

It's laughable. They are playing a team that runs like no other in the league and Eddie Jordan keeps the same 5 out there the entire 4th quarter. They were gassed. The only time a sub came in was when Dixon got a cramp. He really has no clue when it comes to managing the game and his substitutions. It's also laughable that after 5 years with EJ they still can't defend a simple pick and roll. Our only hope is that something drastic happens like they go 0-10 and Pollin has to fire him.

No complaints from me this time. I have to give Eddie his props on this one. I think CB got tired at the end. McGee is going to be a beast.

I was quite surprised Song. got 0 minutes. I still think he should have gotten some minutes in the 2nd half from AJ. AJ played the whole 2nd half.

EJ pretty much benched Stevenson and AD, along with Etan. I must admit I thought he was just giving lip service but he proved me wrong.

The Knicks just could not miss. I am still puzzled on that sag defense the Wiz keep playing. Any NBA player, and I mean "any NBA player" up to the 12th man, can hit a wide open three when they are allowed to set their feet.

The Wiz need to change that D. No need to sag when you have McGee back there covering the paint. A little bit more tweaking from Eddie and I think he will find the right combination and minutes to come up with a good group.

Yes, I too am as content as possible after a loss. EJ really stayed with the folks who were producing, they were taxed at the end of the game but kept it competitive. All in all a credible effort against a red hot Knicks team.

So happy to see McGee getting quality minutes, I don't mind the mistakes at all. Upside so silly that within a few seconds of an error he does something to make you forget it. Quick learner and an obvious zeal which appears contagious when he is on the court.

NY continues to impress, defensive effort/focus is improved and he can still get a shot at will. Needs to go to the rack more and more...

I am encouraged, although it will be a struggle to stay competitive, I no longer feel it is destined to be a wasted year.

The Wiz were the WORST team in the NBA at guarding the 3 last year and that has not changed!

Entertaining game although leave it to Jordan to go too far in the opposite direction of what he did previously. McGee had a very positive effect on the game, but at that pace I think he played something like a quarter and a half with no rest. He could barely jump at the end of the game. CB was gassed as well. EJ is a sad sad coach and always has been. We might just be bad enough this year for him to finally get fired.

Whomever thought Blatche played well must be smoking something with him. He took bad shots and turned the ball over as usual. Hate to say it, but his basketball IQ greatly diminishes his physical skill set.

I liked the decision to bring the subs in as a single unit in the first half, rather than swapping them piecemeal for the starters. It looked like they played a lot looser than usual. I think being out on the floor with the vets makes them tighten up and defer, to the team;s detriment sometimes. Of course, the flip side is that they also made a bunch of mistakes, but their overall play was good enough to that the positives balanced out the negatives.

Dixon played a solid game. Looks like the time he spent cooling his heels on the bench in Toronto and Detroit may have turned a light on about what he needs to do to be valuable on the team and that shooting every time he touches the ball isn't it.

The outcome was tough, but predictable to an extent. The Wiz just don't know how to defend the 3 pt line. It's been their Achille's heel for years now. When ach Randolph is canning 3's, you know it's going to be a long night.

If they can get the same kind of effort they got in this game and clean up the mistakes just a bit, they should have a chance, at least against the middling teams. But without their full lineup of players, they're going to struggle to hang in against good teams.

Missed the game, but delighted to hear that JM got playing time. Also from the comments I see that more of you see that EJ must go. Believe me in that the right offensive philosophy for this team can produce a 575% winning record. And I believe tha either the Duke or Carolina assistant coach on the bench can get the job done. EG will not wait to much more longer if EJ keeps screwing up this team.

BF and Kal are correct: this team just doesn't know what to do about guarding opposing 3-point shooters. How many times will you see a proper rotation on shooters all the way around, until it gets to the last pass. Then whoever is supposed to close out on that guy stands there, not sure whether to hang back and prevent the drive, or just jog out there, getting out too late. It's sickening to watch.

On the other hand, McGee is going to be sensational if his learning curve keeps at this pace. When was the last time you looked at a Wiz player and just kept saying "Wow", over and over. He not only has solid skills an instincts, but plays hard every second he's on the floor. Blatche should be paying attention. I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

I think I mentioned this last year but we've sucked at defending 3's since Calbert Cheaney was here. I remember Calbert running out to catch 3's in his grill repeatedly. Of course, when we aren't making any either we're done. We can win every stat in the sheet but if the other team outshoots us from out there, we still lose.
Good to see JM isn't on the standard Wiz/Bullet 4 year plan. He's out best center option. Next year, assuming BTH comes back healthy, he should be our starting PF next to BTH. AJ can slide to sf next year and force CB to play 2 while GA plays pg. BTH and JM can cover up any mistakes by the perimiter guys and allow them to guard the 3 point line.

As for this year, we gotta keep rolling with what we just did. Teams like the Knicks are an anomoly. Most teams won't shoot that many 3's. Last night's rotation against most teams is a solid one. We just need to stop helping and sagging and let JM man the middle.

I like McGee in the middle let him play some nights it will be painfull, but eventually he'll get it and will be a force i'm a little worried about AJ his jumper is still in training camp,hopefully it will come around Nick Young should start but i understand EJ's dilema bring him off the bench for a spark or.......Juan is doing a good job at the point but he is not the long term answer but he hustles.and makes few mistakes.

I also want to give Juan some big props at playing the point the way he did last night. As Kal noted, Juan had the mindset of a point guard last night. The old Juan normally would not have went that long without jacking up a shot.

However he was content to run the offense and give McGee those great lob passes. He only shot when the opportunity presented itself and it was in the flow of the offense.

Which brings me to AJ. His jumper does not look natural right now. He is aiming it in and it looks like he is shooting a set shot. He shoots 3's and J's way to quickly before anyone is set under the basket for a rebound and is most of the time out of the flow of the offense.

Just like Eddie made an example out of Stevenson, Songalia, AD and Etan, he might want to start doing it for AJ. Eddie needs to tell him to start taking his game down low more, and stop jacking up all of those Bob Cousey set shot jumpers.

Last note. AB looked good in the 1st half, however he started making bonehead plays in the 3rd quarter. Why does it seem like AB is like a quarterback (i.e. Health Schuler) who throws nothing but interceptions?

By that I mean, I have never seen someone turn the ball over so much either dribbling, passing, walking, or charging into somebody.

I have always tried to support the young boy and argue Eddie should let him play through his mistakes. However last night for the first time I had to side with Eddie when he pulled him after that pass turnover in the 2nd half.

Right now I do not know what is going on with AB, other then watching McGee take his title as "Mr. X factor", but he really needs to right his ship before EJ starts to make him inactive.

AB needs to come in and do what he did the first half, rebound, play defense and not shoot any jumpers. He should take all of his shots inside and eliminate all of his turnovers.

BF1: "The Wiz need to change that D. No need to sag when you have McGee back there covering the paint."

For whatever reason, Wiz players like to sag (and not guarding the perimeter players properly) even when the opposing center is Joe Mo! This has been Wiz's problem for years. In the past, BTH has to push some players back out, or sometimes rush to try to block a 3 pt shooter (without avail).

Yeah, AB has tons of TOs this season. 2 TOs in 13 minutes last night, room to improve, but I thought that wasn't terrible. The last TO came after he fought real hard for the rebound and then just threw it away, prompted EJ to sit him down for the duration of the game. McGee also made mistakes, but EJ allowed him to play, I think EJ should do the same with AB.

One thing I forgot to mention, I like the 2nd go-around of Dixon, he has made himself an assist man!

It does not matter if the Wizards go big or small
The way they play it won’t matter at all
Coach EJ loves to plays the vets
Put your money on the other team if you want to win the bet
With this roster they will never win a championship
So play the rookies and get a better lottery pick

The Wizards shot just under 52% from the field and outrebounded the Knicks 50-36. And handled the ball okay (12 TOs vs 10).

At home.

And still lost.

Because the Knicks also shot just under 52%, just over 40% from 3pt range (while the Wiz shot 31% themselves), and outscored the Wiz almost 3 to 1 from outside the arc. The Wiz shooting under 60% from the line didn't help either.